


The Tanager

by TheShaddowedSnow



Category: DC Extended Universe, DCU, Simonverse | Creekwood Series - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Emily Spier and Bruce Wayne are twins, For SVHSA it is, Jewish Bruce Wayne, Multi, Simon is a superhero, Tags Are Hard, Timeline What Timeline, attemtped blackmail, but still our disastor gay, technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShaddowedSnow/pseuds/TheShaddowedSnow
Summary: Emily Wayne left Gotham behind her when she was 18, unable to take the memories of her parents and eventually marries her husband Jack.Several years later Tanager, aka Simon Speir, is navigating through the dangerous waters of high school while not only keeping from his friends the fact that he's gay, but also that he's the nephew of billionaire playboy Bruce WayneOh, and the fact he's even a superhero at all.





	1. And so it begins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EpicKiya722](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpicKiya722/gifts).



“...You don’t know just who you’re blackmailing,” Simon glared, looking a lot like his Uncle Bruce, though he was a blonde theater kid who was shorter than most of his male classmates. “I mean it, Addison. Delete the screenshots now."

“Are you threatening me?” Martin frowned.

“I’m promising you,” Simon warned. “You do not want to do this and mess with me and my family.” He got his phone out and quickly texted Jason. Not two seconds later, he smirked as Martin checked his phone and found the screenshots gone and a very angry message from his older brother.

“What the..?”

“This conversation is over, don’t contact me again,” Simon briskly walked away. He hated using his family but this… He hated people like Martin. Just because he wasn’t out to his friends and the world beyond his family, doesn’t mean Martin had any right to force him out!

“Si?” Leah frowned in concern as their friend joined them at lunch.

“I’m fine,” Simon rubbed his temples. “Addison decided to be annoying. It’s fine. I’m fine…” Leah nodded slowly.

“Must be bad if you’re using his last name,” Nick joked. “Still going to Gotham for the holidays?”

“Gotham?” Garrett asked as he and Bram joined the group.

“Yeah, apparently we have a new family member, again,” Simon mused. Nick snorted. Leah looked amused, and Abby, Garrett, and Bram looked confused.

“My mom is from Gotham; we visit for the holidays and such,” Simon hummed. “I have a lot of cousins. Like, a ton.”

“Oh yeah,” Nick snickered. “Let’s see…” Nick started muttering to himself and counting. “Five?”

“Counting the girls, including the two who aren’t technically adopted, eight.”

“How rich is your uncle?” Abby gaped. Simon chuckled nervously.

“Well… uh…” Simon had no clue how to answer that. His mom moved away from Gotham after she turned 18 to get away from the memories of her parents and family, though she constantly talked to her brother and cousin and Alfred. It was actually his cousin, well second cousin, Kate coming out via being dishonorably discharged from the military that he found the courage to come out to his family. “Rich enough…”

“No kidding,” Garrett joked. Luckily, the conversation moved on to other things.

-

Later at home, after answering an email from Blue, Simon glanced at his phone to see a message from Jason.

_Good idea contacting me, he won’t be bothering you again. Trust me -J_

_He better not Jay, if this comes to bite me in the ass… -S_

_It won’t, you patrolling tonight? -J_

_Yeah, finished my homework, gonna zeta tube to Gotham. -S_

_See ya soon Jaybird. -S_

Simon grabbed his gear and quickly headed to the nearest zeta tube.

“Patrol tonight?” His mom called.

“Yeah! Finished my homework!” He called back as he left the house.

“Recognize-Tanager.”

“What up, Si?” Dick hugged his cousin.

“Hey Dickie,” Simon laughed. “I need to get changed.”

“Yeah yeah, You’ll be patrolling with me tonight, Timmy and B already left.” Simon nodded and went to get changed. His outfit was like Dick’s, except all red with a black bird insignia on his chest and a red mask. It was fashioned after Dick's suit, mostly because Simon really liked the look of Dick’s suit and hey, it’s not like Dick minded.

-

“There was another sighting of Tanager last night!” Abby said excitedly. “This time in Bludhaven!”

“You and your love of Tanager,” Simon chuckled and stealthily checked his phone and responded to Blue before putting it away.

“He’s our age Si! I mean, so is the current Robin, but still!” Simon chuckled and listened to her, amused.

“Jeez Abby if you love him so much marry him,” Leah teased.

“She can’t,” Simon snorted without thinking. Everyone turned to him. “What?”

“Why not?” Abby asked with her eyes narrowed.

“He’s gay, Abby.” That felt good to say out loud. Because Tanager was him, a massive part of him, but his friends didn’t have to know that. 

“How do you know?” Nick asked curiously after a couple of minutes of silence.

 _Because I am him._ “I’ve talked to him, most everyone in Gotham has talked to at least one of the heroes at some point in their lives.” The group nodded.

“That’s pretty cool actually,” Bram spoke up. “Uh, that he was so open about it and you talked to him.”

“Yeah,” Simon ducked his head. “It’s no big deal…”

“That’s super cool though! What are they like? Are they actually a family?”

“One question at a time,” Simon chuckled nervously. “I’ll ask him when I head to Gotham for winter break.” Abby squealed and Leah chuckled. Nick rolled his eyes good-naturedly and turned to talk with his teammates. Simon was so fucked. Jason was going to laugh at him. Babs would not let him hear the end of it.

“I’m going to miss you over winter break, man,” Nick bumped shoulders with Simon.

“Yeah I’ll miss you guys too,” Simon chuckled. “It’ll be fun though, I’ll get to see everyone again, and my mom’s twin brother is absolutely a mess, but he’s our mess.” The blond just wasn’t looking forward to possibly dozens of galas that he’d have to attend. “Alice lives in Gotham so she super happy to be seeing all of us again.”

“Oh yeah, she goes to Gotham U right?” Leah piped up.

“Yeah, she’s living with my Uncle and his crazy band of kids. She loves the chaos though and Al-” Simon cut himself off. “Our basically grandfather makes sure she keeps her studies up. There is nothing that happens that he doesn't know about. I swear he’s some sort of Meta. If he’s not I want to know his secrets.”

“Anyway, a new cousin?” Nick changed the subject before Leah could go on her tirade about the meta-joke (no pun intended).

“Oh! Yeah. I’ve never met him. He’s really cool though, not officially adopted yet, more of a semi-permanent foster kid. He’s a meta with photokinetic vision and can see several minutes into the future by seeing where light will land. No one knows he’s a meta though, but he said it’s fine to talk about it. I video chatted with him last night.” Duke was a great guy, the kind of guy Simon would easily fall for if he wasn’t so hung up on Blue and cute Bram and his soccer calves.

“Yeah?” Leah asked and Simon sweat-dropped. That look was the look of someone who was trying to figure out his family secret. The only one out of his friend to know was Nick, and that’s only because he came with him one year. He didn’t know about him being Tanager yet, though. Probably never would.

“Yeah, nice guy.” Nick smirked and Simon rubbed a hand over his face and gave him a pleading look. Thankfully, he switched the subject.

-

“What’s with Martin?” Abby asked later as they headed for McDonald’s before heading to Simon’s to eat and study.

“He likes you, thought it’d be a good idea to blackmail me. My mom is from Gotham and I spent most of my life there,” Simon snorted. “Blackmail doesn’t scare me.” Abby nodded slowly.

“So what high society family is your mom from?” she asked casually.

“I-what?”

“It’s obvious, Si, and you obviously know. Most people aren’t so… Not bothered by blackmail.” Simon sighed tiredly.

“You can’t tell anyone, okay? The only other person to know is Nick.”

“My lips are sealed,” Abby promised. Simon took a deep breath.

“My mom’s maiden name was Emily Wayne, her twin brother is Bruce Wayne, and she moved away at eighteen to get away from the memories, though still visits and has frequent contact with her brother and cousin and of course Alfred.” There were several minutes of silence, then-

“Holy shit! Bruce Wayne is your uncle?” Simon groaned.

“Yes, Jesus stop freaking out…”

“He’s one of the richest people in the world! He helps fund the Justice League!”

“What did I say about freaking out?” Simon sighed as he drove them to his home. “I mean really…”

“Sorry, sorry I was expecting high society not _that.”_

“Yeah, I noticed,” Simon snorted. The two got out of the car, Abby with the food, and they entered the house. “And yes, before you ask, technically I'm Jewish, mom is the only practitioner out of all of us though.” Abby nodded slowly.

“By her look, you told her, or she found out?” Emily laughed as they entered.

“Half-and-half,” Simon admitted. His mom nodded with a smile.

“Well, keep it to yourself, dear,” Emily winked, and Abby nodded, eyes wide. “Simon you studying all night?”

“Most of it, Abby said she needed home by 10.”

“Alright have fun dears.”

-

“Someone’s excited,” Signal teased.

"I’m patrolling with my newest cousin plus winter break is coming up," Tanager said unapologetically. Signal chuckled and nodded. Gotham was surprisingly quiet that night, so both of the heroes decided to just hang out on a rooftop.

“So how long have you been a hero?” Duke asked.

“Technically? Since I was twelve,” Simon shrugged. “But I started training a little before my twelfth birthday.” It had given his mother a heart attack too, but she couldn't stop him. Well, she could have, but she also understood why he wanted to be a hero like his family.

“Twelve?!?!”

“Dick had been eight,” Simon shrugged. “Anyway, we should probably finish up patrol and call it a day.” Duke nodded slowly, and the two got up from where they were sitting.


	2. Carter and Jason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, forgot this story existed ^^;

“Look, just leave him alone,” Simon sighed the next day tiredly. He was way too tired for the bullcrap of some bullies who thought they could pound on a lowerclassmen. 

“And who’s going to stop us? You?” one of them laughed. They were almost all a head taller than Simon, but that didn’t make them any less easy for the incredibly trained blond to take

“You okay?” Simon asked as he helped the other male up after he was done taking care of the bullies. “Want an escort to the nurse?”

“I’ll be fine, thanks. I’ve had worse from them.”

“They should leave you alone now,” Simon reassured, turning when he heard his name to see his friends. “I gotta go, see ya around.” He took a deep breath and walked over to his friends, waiting for the inevitable questions. Nick gave a look and distracted the girls from asking or saying anything, thank God. Still, he noticed their questioning looks and rubbed his knuckles as he got to class.

“What’s with the bruised knuckles? And what was that?” Nick murmured to Simon in class. The blond smiled sheepishly.

“I’ve lived half my life in Gotham, and you know who my family is, I learned how to defend myself and others.”

“You still bruised your knuckles.”

“The other guys look worse,” Simon shrugged. He didn't hurt them too severely… Just bruised ribs as well as a sprained wrist on one of the guys, enough to remind them not to bully someone or mess with Simon again. Idiots had it coming to them. Nick rose a half-amused brow and shook his head, muttering about ‘weird rich people’ as everyone else piled into the class. Hopefully, none of his other friends would as questions.

-

Simon shouldn't test his luck.

At lunch, as soon as he sat down, Leah started grilling him on his bruised knuckles and the freshman and the football players he somehow took down. Simon groaned internally. Uncle Bruce was always telling him to be more careful and secretive, but for now, he just needed an excuse.

"He has lived practically half his life in Gotham," Nick pointed out. Simon was close to kissing him and singing his praises. "He'd know how to defend himself."

“Exactly,” Simon barely kept in his sigh of relief. He quickly glanced at his phone when it vibrated.

_Mind Carter joining the video chat tonight? He wants to get to know you and apologize for his brother. -J_

_No problem and he doesn’t have to apologize for his idiot of a brother. -S_

“Cousin?” Nick asked.

“The second oldest male yep,” Simon put his phone away. “No, I don’t know how anyone keeps track of them all.” Abby held in a snort. Nick rose a questioning brow, and Simon gave a subtle nod. Nick gave one back.

“What he want?” Nick asked. Simon shrugged.

“Nothing, I thought it was more important than it ended up being,” Simon quickly texted him again. Once he got the okay, he explained, “He’s dating Martin's older brother Carter and asked if Carter could join in on our video chat tonight.” Nick nodded.

“Makes sense.”

“You’re cousin is gay?” Garrett asked.

“Bi, another is pan, another bi, annnnnnnnd one is asexual and demiromantic,” Simon answered easily. “They’re pretty open about it, so I know I can tell you,” he shrugged. Bram looked surprised.

“I guess it is Gotham, not a southern state,” Abby mused.

“Yeah,” Simon chuckled nervously. He glanced at Bram, who looked contemplative like he was trying to figure out a riddle from the Riddler himself. God, why did Bram have to be cute? “It’s pretty nice, you know, minus the muggings and bank robberies and such, the Rogues are pretty chill unless you get caught up in one of their plots.” The rest of them minus Nick gaped at him as he continued to eat like what he said was something completely normal and not at all concerning.

-

“Again, I am so, so sorry for my brother!” Carter exclaimed, and Simon laughed.

“It’s fine, Carter, you don’t have to worry about anything,” Simon reassured. “Nice hacking work, Jaybird, get Tim to finally teach you?”

“Haha,” Jason deadpanned but smiled. “Naw, I had him do it for me. I just told Carter his brother was being an asshole.” Carter hid his head in Jason’s neck, and Simon smiled warmly. “How have you been?”

“Good, you?” Simon shrugged. “I beat up some football players who were bullying a freshman.”

“I should tell you how stupid that was because you’re an adorable twink, but I don’t care, bullies had it coming,” Jason shrugged. Carter gave his boyfriend a Look.

“I’m gay,” Simon reassured. “Hence, the whole blackmail thing.”

“Si si,” Jason nodded. “By the way, Babs is barely holding back from hacking into your email to figure out who your penpal is, I talked her out of it with Tim.”

“Thank you,” Simon sighed in relief. “I know the two of them to mean well, but I’m not going all detective mode on him. Blue will tell me when he’s ready for me to either figure it out or tell me himself.”

“That’s fair; I was still in the closet when Jay and I started dating,” Carter admitted. “I didn’t come out until I realized a couple of things. One, I was hopelessly in love with this man and two; it wasn’t fair to him that we had to hide our relationship, and he needed to meet my family.”

“Hey, it is a southern state,” Simon shrugged. “I get it, I didn’t come out until Jaybird and I’s second cousin Kate was outed via discharge from the military, and I knew my family would be accepting. Before that, I planned on telling them once I moved out.” Carter nodded in understanding. “Will I be seeing you over the winter holidays?”

“I’ll be heading back to Creekwood for Christmas week, but Jason will be joining me.”

“Our family doesn't really celebrate Christmas,” Jason shrugged. “And I thought we were staying through New Year’s?”

“We were going to; then, my brother decided to be an asshole,” Carter deadpanned. “I already talked to my parents about it, and they said they understood why I wanted to shorten the trip.” Simon smiled, warmly at them. They were very into each other, and he was happy for the two older males.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like it? Hate it? Meh about it? Tell me in the comments! Kudos are also always welcome.


	3. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non-sensical Wayne family fn before shit goes down

End of semester test we're hell, but Simon was glad just to have everything packed and ready to go for winter break. He was beyond excited to head to Gotham and catch up with everyone in person.

"Gonna miss you, Si!" Nick gave his friend a side hug. His friends had been at his house to help him pack and give him a proper send-off since he'd be leaving early in the morning.

"Yeah, I'll miss you guys too," Simon said. He hugged them all and grinned. "Don't worry; it'll be pretty boring for me, hanging out with my cousins in Gotham."

"Oh, I'm sure," Leah snorted. "Didn't one of them break his leg trying to parkour up your uncle's house?"

"Twice," Simon hummed. "Almost three times, but he just sprained his ankle the third time." Abbey rose a brow.

"You and your family are crazy, I swear Si," she sighed dramatically. The blond grinned. He knew, and he loved them for it.

-

"Simon!" Dick hugged his male cousin happily. He had come with Alfred and Duke to get the family as they came off of the private jet. Yes, zeta tubes would be easier and faster, but that would bring up questions. "Duke is getting your stuff. Oh, my gods Nora you're so big!" Dick then detached himself from Simon and hugged Simon's younger sister.

"Dick, get off!" Nora complained but hugged back.

"Hello, Dick," Emily laughed. She hugged her oldest nephew, Jack hugging him after.

"It's great to see all of you! Come on, let's go!" The family laughed and followed the excitable detective. It had been way too long since most of the family had met face to face, and even for Simon way too long since he's seen them out of costume. It'd be nice to catch up and relax.

"I will never be used to the paparazzi when we come to visit your family," Jack admitted to Emily. His wife laughed and shook her head.

"I'm not used to them, and I grew up around them."

-

"Guys!" Alice hugged her parents and siblings and smiled.

"Have they made you crazy yet?" Nora smirked.

"And here I carried your stuff for you," Duke deadpanned.

"You don't count. You haven't been around long enough." Simon snorted and shook his head at Nora's words.

"You get used to her," he said.

"Simon, be nice to your sister," Emily chastised. Nora stuck her tongue out at Simon. “Nora, don’t you start.”

“Hello, Emily.” Emily turned and smiled, hugging her twin as Bruce came over to the group. “How was your flight?”

“You know if you keep sending the private jet, people will get suspicious,” she teased. Bruce snorted and shook his head. The two siblings quickly got to catching up, and Alfred got their bags to their usual rooms, though Simon had clothes here, so he didn’t bother packing any.

“Let’s leave the adults to catch up,” Dick said.

“Dick, you’re twenty-four,” Simon deadpanned, and Dick gasped.

“How dare you! I’m still hip with the teens young man!” he said dramatically. The kids all burst out laughing and rushed off with Dick. The group was all pretty close, though Simon was closer to them than Nora for obvious reasons, it felt like they were all siblings instead of cousins.

As such, Simon was completely comfortable sending Blue a quick email about landing in Gotham as well as his crazy family. He never mentioned Gotham or his family by name, which could get kind of confusing, but the two of them somehow always knew who Simon was talking about.

“I still don't know why you won’t let us sleuth him,” Tim huffed.

“When he’s ready for me to know, he’ll encourage me to figure it out; he already knows I’m a bit of a junior detective. No, we don't give each other specifics, and plenty of high schoolers want to be police or detectives. While that’s not my path, it doesn't mean millions of other teens, and I can’t have that interest.” Tim just huffed again and leaned against Connor. “Believe it or not, I want my kind of boyfriend to trust me enough and feel comfortable enough with me knowing before I know.”

“You have theories, though,” Cassandra said. Simon hummed and nodded.

“There’s a couple of people I have in mind, yes.” Simon sent the email and closed out of Gmail before putting his phone away. “How have y’all been?”

“Y’all,” Steph snickered. “Our southern boy!” Simon rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her.

“I actually have two people who’ll be joining us,” Dick said surprisingly awkwardly. “Uh… We’re spending Christmas with one of their parents because they actually celebrate Christmas, but otherwise, we’ll be here, though we’ll be visiting their families too, of course.”

"Nice, we know them?" Jason asked.

"You know one of them."

“Neat, “ Simon hummed. “Can't wait to see who’s made you have a smile on your face and a flush on your cheeks every time you check your phone.” Said flush just appeared on the eldest Wayne boy's cheeks. Point for Simon.

-

No one was surprised when Wally and Hartley joined them. Well, okay, Hartley was a slight surprise, but everyone had assumed Dick and Wally were already dating.

"We barely convinced Hartley not to dress up all nice," Wally joked. "He wanted to make a good first impression."

"Sorry that one of us didn't meet Dick until they were nearly eighteen," Hartley said sarcastically. "You never let me meet any of the cool superheroes."

"He introduced us," Dick pointed out.

"Like I said, any of the cool, superheroes." Dick and Wally had already told him who everyone was and that everyone knew. Dick gave an overdramatic gasp, and the shorter ginger rolled his eyes and kissed the acrobat's cheek.

"So you know?" Carter asked. He had been recently told.

"Yeah, funny story actually, I'm technically a villain? Owen and I kind of just do what we want. I'm the Pied Piper," Hartley said sheepishly.

"Nice," Simon whistled. "Are the rats your pets, or are they just kinda random?"

"I have two pet rats, but all the ones I use in battles and heists are random. My babies Orion and Stella are siblings and at home," Hartley answered.

"You should see our apartment, those hamster connector things are everywhere with various cages either fitted to the wall or on a shelf. They love watching Hart cook."

"You also love watching me cook," Hartly pointed out with a huff. "They're brilliant creatures and don't disrespect my children."

"Their main cage is a huge old cabinet he converted into multiple little apartments and spaces, some having light and some not and the entire cabinet is made for when they want privacy," Dick mused. 

"They love it, and you love playing with them."

"Never said anything against either of those statements, Hart."

"We're getting another one."

"Hart, no!" His boyfriends said together, and the ginger grinned. Simon snorted. The three had forgotten about the rest of them for the most part.

He just wondered if Blue and he would ever be like that.


End file.
